More on XBox Live Bans, HDD Crippling, Possible Ban Causes

Reports now indicate that the fresh wave of Microsoft bans on modified consoles has resulted in systems not only being banned from XBox Live, but also removing the ability to install games to the HDD, forbidding the use of Windows Media Centre extender, and not allowing the retrieval of achievements from backups without corrupting profiles.

Thus far, Microsoft has disabled 600,000 accounts (up to 1 million according to MSNBC) in the US and Canada.

To quote from Kushan: - What does this mean for you and what can you do about it?

Firstly, and most obviously, you cannot connect to Xbox Live on this console any more. This means no more game updates (aka title updates), XBLA games, marketplace content, netflix/sky player and so on. There is no way around this, all online capabilities are now disabled PERMANENTLY.

In all likelihood, your gamertag has NOT BEEN BANNED. When your gamertag gets banned, Microsoft sends you an email detailing why, if you have not recieved this email then your profile should be ok, to a certain extent.

Hard Drive installs are now disabled on the banned console. This means any disk-based games you have will no longer play off of the hard drive. If you attempt to play a game, it will tell you that it was installed on a different 360 and needs to be deleted/installed again. When you delete the game and attempt to install it, you are given a message telling you that it is not supported. There is no way to fix this, that functionality is simply gone from the banned 360.

The hard drive itself is left untouched - you can place it in another 360, even an unbanned one, and it will still work just fine. You do NOT need to reformat it to regain any kind of functionality. Any installed games will need to be reinstalled for the console you want to play them on. This is normal behaviour and happens when swapping HDDs on unbanned/legit 360's.

Windows Media Centre functionality is disabled. It is still possible to stream video/music content via the video library.

Your Gamertag may be corrupted. This does not mean your gamertag has been banned, you can recover it using any live-capable 360, however ANY ACHIVEMENTS YOU HAVE EARNED SINCE BEING BANNED WILL BE LOST. Your gamertag will be corrupted EVERY SINGLE TIME it is used on a banned console. This means you cannot use your banned console to play backups offline just to get achievements - it wont work, the second you put your profile back on a good 360, it will be corrupted and all progress lost. There is no way around this.

The same applies to game saves - if you access a game save on a banned 360, it too will be corrupted when accessed on a legit/unbanned 360! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! There is no way around this, either.

Your XBLA games and DLC will still be valid, however to play them on a different 360 you will need to be signed into Xbox Live. This is normal behaviour on unbanned/legit 360's as well. They may be corrupted and have to be re-downloaded if you attempt to access them on a banned 360.

So, in summary your Banned 360:
- Cannot go on Xbox Live
- Cannot install games to the HDD
- Cannot use Windows Media Centre extender
- Cannot be used to get achievements from backups without corrupting your profile

You cannot do anything about this, short of buying a new 360.

There may be more functionality disabled than mentioned here, things are still being discovered.

- So what caused my ban?
There are MANY theories as to what is causing so many consoles to get banned this time, however as of yet there is nothing concrete, just a lot of circumstantial evidence and speculation. Please do not add to this, a full investigation is under-way.

c4eva, the main guy behind iXtreme, had this to say:
fw itself not detectable
suspect they are going hard on warez releases and incorrect use of abgx!

He also added the following:
just to let you know that im looking into the current ban wave. I am currently running several brand new xboxs on live! These xboxs are in various configs. All are running ixtreme 1.61 One is running original discs, another is running on xbl (no discs), another is running a backup from my region! Until tests are completed, no eta on liteon fw!

When we know more, YOU'LL no more, so please do not ask for updates!
A full transcript is available here - http://pastebin.ca/1660777

Remember, if you really want to blame someone, blame the person that decided to modify your 360 in the first place - most likey, that would be you.

While M$ is at why don't they just make the entire system go RROD. That's the best way to stop pirates. And go even further and cripple the controller from working, then at the same time burning out the CPU and the power adapter. That will teach those pirates!

i could do this, get banned and sell it... trust me its not that hard, you might need to try more than 1 place but youll find a place or even ebay... and in no time someone who did nothing gets screwed =\

i could do this, get banned and sell it... trust me its not that hard, you might need to try more than 1 place but youll find a place or even ebay... and in no time someone who did nothing gets screwed =\

Most people that are up to date with gaming news would never buy a used, refurbished, repaired, etc console. If you plan on buying an xbox you better go buy a new one off the shelf and look at their return policy incase the console is already banned. A lot of people will be returning consoles specially those that had 1 or 2 week with it and are already banned, believe me there are plenty of cases.

Another thing that i've read on the net lately is people that got banned are defecting to the ps3 to start their legit gaming life. How stupid is that? I mean if you are going to start paying for your games you can get the console you already own and buy the stuff and stay out of trouble. It seems people are trying to get even with Microsoft by not buying their console even when they stole from MS in the first place.

MS is getting agressive with pirates but if you go legit you dont have to worry about their counter measures. And to all pirates that are now offline avoiding a ban, I hope the day doesnt come where you have to forcefully upgrade in order to play new games. MS could start killing other functionallity like the hability to play games and that would render your console useless.

Most people that are up to date with gaming news would never buy a used, refurbished, repaired, etc console. If you plan on buying an xbox you better go buy a new one off the shelf and look at their return policy incase the console is already banned. A lot of people will be returning consoles specially those that had 1 or 2 week with it and are already banned, believe me there are plenty of cases.

Another thing that i've read on the net lately is people that got banned are defecting to the ps3 to start their legit gaming life. How stupid is that? I mean if you are going to start paying for your games you can get the console you already own and buy the stuff and stay out of trouble. It seems people are trying to get even with Microsoft by not buying their console even when they stole from MS in the first place.

MS is getting agressive with pirates but if you go legit you dont have to worry about their counter measures. And to all pirates that are now offline avoiding a ban, I hope the day doesnt come where you have to forcefully upgrade in order to play new games. MS could start killing other functionallity like the hability to play games and that would render your console useless.

i think it makes a lot of sense...

1) most exclusive titles for the x360 have been coming ps3 side
2) online is free, and they might have paid and gotten pissed =\
3) kick in the ass they needed to jump ship

Most people that are up to date with gaming news would never buy a used, refurbished, repaired, etc console. If you plan on buying an xbox you better go buy a new one off the shelf and look at their return policy incase the console is already banned. A lot of people will be returning consoles specially those that had 1 or 2 week with it and are already banned, believe me there are plenty of cases.

Another thing that i've read on the net lately is people that got banned are defecting to the ps3 to start their legit gaming life. How stupid is that? I mean if you are going to start paying for your games you can get the console you already own and buy the stuff and stay out of trouble. It seems people are trying to get even with Microsoft by not buying their console even when they stole from MS in the first place.

MS is getting agressive with pirates but if you go legit you dont have to worry about their counter measures. And to all pirates that are now offline avoiding a ban, I hope the day doesnt come where you have to forcefully upgrade in order to play new games. MS could start killing other functionallity like the hability to play games and that would render your console useless.

It makes perfect sense. The 360s main draw for those people is that they can pirate on it and when it turns out they have to buy all their games they will naturally chose the more economical/superior console for that. Free online, better exclusives, a lot of added features AND they don't have to worry about RROD. Trust me the main reason I want a 360 is to download games for it.

Pirates arent stealing from microsoft, I dont know where you get that idea. Naturally "theft" implies a loss but who is to say MS gets anything from pirates not pirating? The one thing we can most definitely be sure about is the fact that pirates have bought the console, pay their ISP, buy blanks and some are paying to use live (meaning paying ms in some way). Banning pirates is just a matter of principle in most cases and the assumption that its a lost sale.

I think MS should not ban consoles though. The list of disadvantages to a banned console really show that MS is interfering where they probably shouldnt. The ppl who could become inconvenienced aren't just the pirates involved. Prevent use of certain live features but don't manipulate the consumers paid for hardware. Imagine a world where MS can disable your ethernet port, half your ram and processor permanently if they find a pirated windows OS on the system. They go too far.

@semitope
Did you ever read EULA? Do you know how many money they lose because of pirates? Yes they can ban your 199$ elite for just 4 games (200$) or 50 games (2500$). After this mass ban wave Xbox sales will rise because guys with ixtreme and tons of backups will NEVER pay for original PS3 games. Better pay a system again then 4 PS3 games... and pirates are pirates